Compare and Contrast

With all the furor and frenzy over the Contrast Paints, it seemed wise to make a change in the schedule for my Army Painting series.  I had another Oil Painting series set up but everyone wants to know about these paints.

So I grabbed some classic Khore Bloodletters and got those prepped for Series 10, which will focus on various ways to use those Contrast Paints!

I have been mixing them with a variety of "regular" paints, but this was the first time I got to see what they would do with the fluorescent paint!

As I have mentioned many times now, I have been asked repeatedly for options on the Reaper Clear and Liner paints, which can be difficult to obtain outside the US.  I have already done 3 live sessions on the mixing of regular paint with Contrast Paints: https://youtu.be/r4e9b03jgdk

Ironically, this is nothing different than techniques that used many years ago when I filmed the original Painting Pyramid series.  Here's another live session showing how I used the Contrast Medium to make my own lighter skin tone contrast paint... https://youtu.be/AyUAj05Xevo

I chose to do a classic color scheme on these classic Bloodletters, which seemed to suit them well.  As with all Army Painting series, I begin with creating bases for the unit.  In this case, working with the Green Stuff World texture rollers and the flaming skulls.  The second episode is always the Color Test Figure, which is where you figure out how long a given effect or color scheme might take on each figure.

This is very important because what seems like a small amount of time on one figure can become a LOT of time once you multiply that across an entire unit or army!  That is why I discuss the point over and over again during the subsequent episodes.  Each series is normally 5 episodes, and around 12-13 hours total running time.  These are designed to tie into the Painting Dark Sword episodes and other videos that are posted to the patreon page each month.  The $15 pledge level means you will be able to see every series that has been done, and I am working on series 10 and 11 right now!

The Army Painting pledge level will provide access to all previous series and tutorials at all the other levels, so that means close to 100 various tutorials at your fingertips in an instant!  You can find that here on the Patreon Page: www.patreon.com/JamesWappel

Swamp Things

The Creature Cast//Slow Fuse gaming paints yield some very interesting results, like this river troll from Games Workshop!  Here's a video that I did a while back when I first got the paints to see what they could do: https://youtu.be/sFsQ4VrQG44

I had a lot of fun with the scales and skin, which felt like they should be fish like, but also of a higher saturation.  The Purple and Jade from the range are favorites, and they have a natural synergy together.

As an intermediary, we have some of the Sky Blue in places.  This helps the Jade to translate into purple instead of becoming more of a gray.  Purple and Green mixes are one of my favorite ways to create Green, so adding the blueish tone first cuts down on that "graying" of the color.

I used the Reaper Liner paints to make them even darker, such as the Green and Blue Liner paints.  I was also using them much like a glaze, and those Liner paints are fantastic for glazing, as many of you have seen in my videos!

I did much of the water with the Green Stuff World clear UV resin.  This can be very handy, as the water effects can take a LONG time to cure on their own.  I will be doing more experiments with this to see how it can be built up to create waves and so on...

I was tempted to add some mushrooms to the base... but perhaps on the next one!  If I do, they will be sculpted in a very similar manner to this tutorial: https://youtu.be/b0ZGhq6GoO0

A little different

It has been a very long time since I last painted a GW figure that wasn't from Lord of the Rings, so this was interesting.  This guy had to match all those other figures painted from several different miniature ranges.

I have discussed the challenge of matching figures from various ranges before.  It seems like it should be simple, but not only do some figures have very different armor, they also have lots of those "extra" tidbits added... especially if they are newer figures.

With the advent of digital sculpting, adding lots of buckles, straps, feathers, fur, and whatever other little things you can think of is a lot easier, and therefore you see a LOT more of it.  Sometimes the figure itself can be virtually buried under all this gear.

Back in the day, I really enjoyed the Celtos line, because there was a minimum of all those extra things.  The figures were more like a blank canvas, in which you could add (or not add) what you wanted.  I especially wish that the "sculpted freehand" designs were left off miniatures.  I understand why this is the case, but my choice would be for flat banners and cloaks.

This would let me choose what sort of freehand designs that I want, instead of having to try to file them off!

Going from Oils to Acrylics

I am asked quite frequently if I ever use "regular" acrylic miniatures paint over figures that I began with oils.  The answer is yes... all the time!

Once the oil paints dry (which can be a matter of hours if you use the Mig Ammo Oilbrushers and thin your other oil paints), you can seal them with any sort of Dullcoate, and paint right over them with no troubles at all.

I thought I would film a quick video last week as I did this very process.  Originally these figures were part of a massive batch of stuff that I was painting, which is the primary advantage of oil paints.  You can work on a vast amount of figures all at once quite easily.

I sealed these with Testors Dullcoate, and they were ready for working in acrylics.  The original layers of oil paints would be used essentially as an underpainting.

I also made a few other changes... especially going from Non Metallic metals to metallics by using the Vallejo Metal Medium.

Here's a link to the tutorial video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6991iucjt0

A Little NMM: Unit painting videos

The Age of Sigmar Medusae unit was a fun way to begin the Army Painter video series!  As with each set of tutorial videos, I start out with the basing.

This involves more than just making a batch of bases... I try to go deeper into how to manage time and thereby your choices.  I give examples of how much time is added by adding various extra effects, and if it is worth spending that additional time.

We all have very little of that precious resource to spend on our own armies, so understanding the implications of each choice can mean the difference between getting it done when you need it or never completing it in the first place!

I attempted to show what impact adding things such as Object Source Lighting and Non Metallic Metals can add in a visual sense, but also how that makes each piece potentially take longer.  

Of course, I am also trying to show how to make those extra effects take less time, and where "savings" can be found!

You can check out all three Army Painter series here on the Patreon Page:

www.patreon.com/JamesWappel

Glow and Reflections! Unit painting videos

Creating the Unit Painting videos for the Patreon Page was definitely one of the most interesting tutorial projects that I have done.  While the typical one off painting tutorials are always fun, these new videos allow me to dive into some aspects that I really love!

In particular, all of the planning that goes into every stage of army building.  I have already discussed the basing videos that begin each series, but now I wanted to talk about that middle area, where I do the Shaded Basecoat phase.

This is critical to everything that I paint, but even more so on multiple figures.  It occurred to me that such a process has never been filmed on a mass basis before.  It was a technique that I developed years ago for painting my armies to an award winning standard, and that has continued to evolve over the years as I have moved into new genres and mediums.

The first series covered fantasy miniatures in 'standard' acrylic paints, but Series 2 has covered painting units with oil paints.

I will continue to cover different genres and game systems.  Series 3 will show how I paint my Lord of the Rings Easterlings, utilizing my glazing techniques with the Reaper Clear and Liner paints.  That will discuss NMM in even more detail, and freehand designs as well.

You can get access to all of the Army Painter series, along with other content, on the Patreon Page:

www.patreon.com/JamesWappel

Let the Army Painting begin!!

I have been very excited about the new pledge levels on the Patreon page... especially the "Army Painting" series of instructional videos.

This course takes you through the process of planning out the painting of units and therefore armies, starting with the bases, moving on to the color scheme, followed by the best way to approach that color scheme. 

These are usually 3-5 episodes, and cover all the aspects of army painting that I have developed over the years.  The idea is to get the most out of the appearance of the figures, but in a reasonable amount of time.

The first series has now been created for the backers of this new pledge level, and many topics came up during the process... fluorescent paints, object source lighting, non metallic metals, and so on.  My goal is to tackle different genres with each set, and different materials.

For instance, I want to show how to use oils, do weathering techniques, etc. on future units.  I'll be covering 40k, Bolt Action, more fantasy units, steampunk, etc.

As some of you who are already familiar with the Painting Pyramid know, I start out with the Shaded Basecoat, which was initially developed as I painted my armies.

Here's a blast from the past!!

http://wappellious.blogspot.com/p/using-shaded-basecoat-technique-to.html

Back in 2013-14, I did a kickstarter campaign in which I created 53 different videos, each one about 100 minutes long.  Many topics were covered, including 12 videos on basing techniques and 5 on terrain!

I have been adding to that collection with all new videos, which are available to the patrons.  The new Painting Pyramid videos are designed to incorporate my newest techniques and materials with the methods that I developed in previous years.

Since the original Pyramid days, I have gotten a host of new materials, and they have made life much easier, and opened up so many new options!

There are a lot of things planned for the army painting pledges!  I even have an option to get "hard copy" versions of the videos on a USB drive.  These are higher resolution versions, and you can watch them anytime you want.

Here's a link to the page"

www.patreon.com/JamesWappel

Checkers

Here's another Clan Escher painted in oils!  Once again, a link to the original live session:

https://www.facebook.com/james.wappel/videos/vb.1056181987/10211936982874044/?type=2&video_source=user_video_tab

Now that I have the new set of Mig Ammo OilBrushers, I will be able to do even more finely detailed aspects of the figures.  Since I made this video, I have learned a lot about using the oils in various ways.  Now I can paint the entire figure in oils, which is very cool!

Li'l Red

Here's another example of a Necromunda Clan Escher figure painted mostly with oil paints,  As usual, I did some finishing details with acrylics once that was dried.  This was especially the case where I needed to establish some glowing parts on the figures.

I wanted to use my Vallejo fluorescent paints like I normally do for such things.  Thus far, I don't think anyone makes fluorescent oil paints!

Once again, here is the link for the Facebook Live episode where I painted part of the squad:

https://www.facebook.com/james.wappel/videos/vb.1056181987/10211936982874044/?type=2&video_source=user_video_tab

Blondie

Earlier this year, I did an experiment painting a unit of Clan Escher on a facebook live session to show how you can try to utilize that extended drying time to your advantage.

The technique has developed a lot since then, with new colors added, and even new jars to put my "remodeled paints" into!

Here's a link to that original session:

https://www.facebook.com/james.wappel/videos/vb.1056181987/10211936982874044/?type=2&video_source=user_video_tab

I am trying to create my own bottled versions of the Mig Ammo Oilbrushers.  I really love those, so I am trying to expand on that range by making my own.  It is relatively simple, as I already know the colors which I want to create... these are colors which I use the most, or ones that I would like to try more often.

Using my high quality white spirits, I think I can make something close enough, although I will be most curious to see if the drying times also come a bit closer.

As it is now, the Mig Oilbrushers can dry in about 4-5 hours.  Standard oil paint takes longer, especially if it is thicker.  So, we shall see what happens when the mixture contains more of the white spirits.  I don't expect it to dry that much faster, nor do I really need it to do that.  more of a curiosity than anything else :-)

Stay tuned!